Environment

Ivory Trade on Rise

by nivedita1234 | January 29, 2010 at 10:23 pm

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According to the Traffic International, a total of more than 14,000 products made from the tusks and other body parts of elephants were seized across Asia in 2009 which shows an increase of more than 17% on their previous analysis in 2007. Traffic International is a UK-based group that monitors trade in wildlife across the world and publish their findings on yearly basis.

The illegal ivory trade in Vietnam is threatening the survival of South East Asia's dwindling elephant population, a wildlife monitoring organisation says.

Ivory prices in Vietnam are higher than anywhere else in the world, indicating rising demand, researchers from the international group, Traffic, found.

Around 4,000 tonnes of illegal wildlife products are estimated to pass through Vietnam every year.

There are thought to be fewer than 150 elephants left in the wild in Vietnam.

The trade in ivory was officially banned in Vietnam 16 years ago - but because of a loophole in the law allowing shops to sell tusks obtained before that year, the trade still carries on.